“New Yorkers Against Fracking: An Urgent Call to Action” at The Egg, 5/15/12

ALBANY – It was billed as “an all-star concert event,” and Tuesday night’s “New Yorkers Against Fracking: An Urgent Call to Action” lived up to the ”all-star” promise, but it was really more of a rally with music than a concert.

With Academy Award winner Melissa Leo and Academy Award nominee Mark Ruffalo acting the emcees of the evening’s festivities, the star-power was assured. Ruffalo was passionate, and Leo was gloriously over the top, but both of them led the charge, pleading with Governor Andrew Cuomo to institute a state-wide ban on the process of hydrofracking to extract natural gas from the earth. As numerous speakers throughout the event told us, it’s not merely an environmental issue, but a health and public safety issue, as well.

Following the invocation by Mohawk Nation Elder Tom Porter, the eight-member Ahkwasanse Women’s Choir launched the musical portion of the evening with a pair of unadorned a cappella songs – “The Precious Water Song” and “our Precious Mothers” – that reminded us of the importance of our natural resources and the bounty of Mother Earth.

From there, the event tried to balance speakers – who hammered home the dangers of fracking – with musicians, who tried to simultaneous entertain and re-inforce the message. With Natalie Merchant as the primary musical director, the musical portion of the show was something of a hodge-podge. While there were certainly transcendental moments, they came mostly from the lesser-known musicians, rather than the stars. Tamar-kali knocked it out of the park during the second half of the show with a sublimely sensuous rendition of her “Siren Song,” backed by a 10-piece band that included a trio of violinists.

Toshi Reagon – the real spark-plug of the night – kicked it all into overdrive with a wailing, soulful rendition of her “Down by the Water” accompanied by bassist Meshell Ndegeocello, mandolinist Dan Zanes, percussionist Jerry Marotta and more, earning the first genuine standing ovation of the night. Ithaca’s Horse Flies wailed during their spirited instrumental, and their fiddler Judy Hyman also hit the mark with her solo violin performance backing a PowerPoint presentation of Cuomo’s evolving stand of fracking. And spoken word artist Carl Hancock Rux offered a simply brilliant reading of “A Poem for the Marcellus” by Sandra Steingraber, outshining the poet-ecologist herself who spoke later.

The song selection was odd, mostly cover tunes. Joan Osborne tackled R.E.M. “Fall On Me” to close out the first half, but it never took off. The pentultimate song of the night was Talking Heads’ “Heaven,” the chorus of which (“Heaven is a place where nothing ever happens”) would seem to be the antithesis of an anthemic rallying cry. The night closed with a monster jam on Sly & the Family Stone’s “Everyday People.”

The Felice Brothers – who played a mesmerizing show at Jillian’s in Albany just a few days prior – didn’t get a moment in the spotlight, although Ian Felice nailed an exquisite duet with Merchant on her “Motherland,” their two idiocyncratic voices blending in a unique and surprising fashion.

There was indeed an oversaturation of talent on stage and a limited amount of time, which meant that Ndegeocello and Rock & Roll Hall of Famer John Sebastian were sadly relegated to backing musician status.

And in the end, the evening was more about the message than the music.